6am 7/11
We were catching a bus to Tioman Island today, so we were up at 6am! As per usual, once we’d woken up and got our things together, we nipped to the nearby 7/11 to acquire our breakfasts. We booked a taxi outside which would ensure that we’d get to the bus station in a timely manner. Once we arrived at the bus terminal (TBS – Terminal Bersepadu Selatan), we entered and went to some machines which allowed us to by bus tickets to Tioman Island, very handy. The process was nice and easy.
Our bus to Tioman Island was at 8am, so we didn’t have long to wait…or so we thought. As per usual, time ticked on, and the bus was 30 minutes late. However, I’ll let it slide this time because the bus was pretty damn luxurious. The decor was fancy, and the amount of seat space and leg room was mind boggling! Before long, the bus departed, bound for Tioman Island. Technically, it was bound for Mersing, which is the little port where the ferry docks, which will take us to the island. The journey in total was 5-6 hours long, of which I slept for the vast majority of it.
On the coast
The bus dropped us off in a coastal town called Mersing, pretty much the closest land point to Tioman Island. Once we arrived, we had a 3-hour wait until the ferry left, so we had to make ourselves busy. We grabbed some food from a nearby food court stall and munched down on it. After we had our grub, we decided to take a walk further into the town itself. There wasn’t much to it from what I could see, quite a mediocre port town, only renowned for the ferry.
On the way into town, I spotted the building where we had to pick our tickets up from. We nipped in, showed them the digital order, and away we were with our tickets. At the time, they didn’t accept a digital version, you had to exchange for physical copy. The ferry cost us 35RM which wasn’t too bad. You also have to pay a 30RM conservation fee. Apparently it’s for a good cause, but who really knows around here? It was awfully hot, so we decided to hop into a small grocery shop just for the aircon, it felt like a life saver. We eventually decided to just wait at the jetty, so we could cool down and relax.
A rough ride
Even after trying to waste time, we had an hour or so to wait at the dock. When they announced the ferry was now boarding passengers, of course you have the mad rush to get there. We had to swap the tickets we collected earlier with boarding passes at the dock, from a man in a small booth. After a bit of a long queue, we managed to board the ferry…a little late I might add!
This boat journey was like no other I’ve experienced. I don’t know if it was the ocean or the captain, but we were getting some serious air whilst sailing. We were absolutely hammering the waves, sometimes riding a wave up, and then the boat came crashing down. Occasionally, we’d drop a few metres at a time, being airborne for a couple of seconds. It seemed like absolute carnage, basically like a theme park ride. Many folks were throwing up, and I could hardly blame them!
Once the boat made it to Tioman Island in one piece, Mat and I disembarked promptly to try and recover. We walked to our hostel in the dark, and then checked in. We stayed at a place called Cheers Chalet, there are a number of chalets clustered together, quite cute and charming. The hostess is very nice and helpful, and our rooms were modest, but probably cheapest on the island. It didn’t take long for sleep to consume us.
